Sports enthusiasts, particularly basketball fans, should be familiar with the face of Angelica Dominque Cuyugan Tuzon (Monique Cuyugan Tuzon) who is Basketball TV and Solar Sports’ more popular sports reporter.
The grandniece of Philippine opera diva Fides Cuyugan Asensio is aiming high, beyond the basketball court, her turf on television. She has joined the roster of candidates for this year’s Miss World Philippines.
She is candidate No. 14 and if luck would be on her side, she could win one of four titles—Miss World Philippines, Reina Hispanico Americana Philippines, Miss Eco Philippines, and Miss Multinational Philippines—in the pageant on Oct. 7 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Last week the Miss World Philippines candidate met with the entertainment press to tell them why she finally acceded to her friends’ request to try the beauty pageant platform.
Now 25 (born on May 6, 1993), “It could be my last chance to join a beauty pageant [for single women],” she said.
In 2012, when she was still a student in Charlotte, NC, she won Miss Asia Carolinas (“I needed the prize. It was a scholarship,” she revealed) but never gave joining a beauty pageant serious thought.
“I am a big fan of beauty pageants. I love watching the candidates in their evening gowns and how they answer the questions, but that’s about it.”
Monique was born in the Philippines but moved to the US with her mom when she was 11. She returned to Manila last year and started working with Solar Entertainment as producer and reporter for Solar Sports and Basketball TV.
She actually dreams to be a host of a lifestyle show, “But that is far from being realized because I don’t see much lifestyle shows on free TV in the Philippines,” she said.
Sports may be her strong point as a TV reporter having interned at WBTV in Charlotte, but her interests are far ranging—she was in a Church Youth Leader and Worship Team, a team captain at University of North Carolina Charlotte Area during the Relay for Life, she found and organized “Rise Above the Storm 5k Run while on the side modeling for an apparel brand.
Yeah, it may be her last and only chance for a beauty title, yet the Miss World Philippines 2018 pageant could open more doors for this young sports TV producer/reporter. She might even accept an acting offer if any. “I can learn anything. I’m fast. Throw me something and I can learn it in a jiffy,” she said in her American-accented Filipino.
I asked Monique if it didn’t occur to her to be in Hollywood as an actor either on TV or in the movies as she can pass for a Latina. She was surprised and said, “No, I didn’t think about that because I knew it is difficult to get into Hollywood. But, thank you, anyway.”
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The Elegant Filipinas on its 4th year at Diamond Hotel
Diamond Hotel Philippines has been home to heads of state, women leaders, diplomats, international artists and celebrities, health and fitness influencers, society advocates and beauty queens.
This year, the hotel is proud to partner again with TingTing’s List: The Elegant Filipinas. Tingting R. Cojuangco, founder of the program, was one of Harper’s Bazaa’s “100 Most Beautiful Women in the World.” She will present the “Ten Women of Elegance” who made it to this year’s list in a glamorous gathering on Sept. 25at the Diamond Hotel Ballroom.
The recipients of the award are KC Concepcion, Stephanie Zubiri-Crespi, Apples Aberin, Jessica Kienle Maxwell, Marga Montemayor Nograles, MaiMai R Cojuangco, Kai Lim, Carla Guevara Laforteza, Dr. Diane Cuaand Small Laude.
Albert Andrada will feature his London and New York collection.
More than the glitz and glamour, the event will raise funds for the benefit of PLDT -Smart Foundation’s Gabay Guro, a program that fosters professional development among Filipino teachers, Consul General Fortune Ledesmaannounced.
The hotel recognizes the significant role of women in today’s society and upholds great respect to their valuable contributions.
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Theater group restages adaptation of García Márquez’s work
The Far Eastern University Theater Guild, in partnership with the FEU President’s Committee on Culture, will once again bring to life Ang Pinakamakisig sa Mga Nalunod sa Buong Daigdig, one of the organization’s most successful plays, at the PCC Center Studio.
The musical production closes the theater company’s 84th season. It is based on Teresa Lorena Jopson’s adaptation of the short story The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World by Gabriel García Márquez. FTG Artistic Director Dudz Teraña.
This is Teraña’s sophomore work on a musical play. He is also a senior member, director and actor of the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA). Yet, it is his third time for him and FTG to collaborate with Jopson on her adaptation of a García Márquez’s work. In 2014, the group staged Makikitawag Lang Ako, Jopson’s take on the chapter “I Only Came to Use the Phone” from the book Strange Pilgrimsby the great Colombian writer.
Ang Pinakamakisig sa Mga Nalunod sa Buong Daigdig, which FTG first staged last year, will have the production’s original cast teaming up with the organization’s new members to bring the audience again to a musical journey to a small, remote town by the ocean.
On an island where life is stagnant and stale, the body of a drowned man is washed ashore. As the people of the town attempt to discover his identity, the barren island soon changes. How would they react when they discover that he is taller, stronger and more handsome than any man they have ever seen? How would this creature change their lives forever?
The musical runs from Oct. 3-6, 10-13, 17-20 and 24-27, 6:30 p.m., at the PCC Center Studio on the ground floor of FEU-Manila Technology Building. Tickets are at P100 for the FEU community (with valid ID) and P200 for regular viewers.
The FEU Theater Guild is a non-profit university-based organization that has built a reputation on contemporary plays, quality productions, and adventurous live theater. For inquiries, contact the FTG at 09970765168 or at 736-4897 c/o PCC, or visit its social media accounts, Facebook.com/FarEasternUniversityTheaterGuild, and Twitter @feutheaterguild.